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A Diverse Array of Fluvial Depositional Systems in Arabia Terra: Evidence

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A Diverse Array of Fluvial Depositional Systems in Arabia Terra: Evidence RESEARCH ARTICLE A Diverse Array of Fluvial Depositional Systems in Arabia 10.1029/2019JE005976 Terra: Evidence for mid‐Noachian to Early Hesperian Key Points: • Fluvial depositional systems, 50–100 Rivers on Mars m in stratigraphic thickness, are Joel M. Davis1 , Sanjeev Gupta2, Matthew Balme3 , Peter M. Grindrod1 , Peter Fawdon3, common across Arabia Terra, Mars 1 4 • These deposits represent former Zachary I. Dickeson , and Rebecca M.E. Williams rivers (at least 100–200 km long), 1 2 floodplains, and lakes and are found Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, filling fluvial valleys and basins Imperial College London, London, UK, 3School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Buckinghamshire, UK, • ‐ These systems are mid Noachian to 4Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA early Hesperian in age and represent significant periods of geologic time Abstract Branching to sinuous ridges systems, hundreds of kilometers in length and comprising layered Supporting Information: fl • Supporting Information S1 strata, are present across much of Arabia Terra, Mars. These ridges are interpreted as depositional uvial channels, now preserved as inverted topography. Here we use high‐resolution image and topographic data sets to investigate the morphology of these depositional systems and show key examples of their Correspondence to: relationships to associated fluvial landforms. The inverted channel systems likely comprise indurated J. M. Davis, conglomerate, sandstone, and mudstone bodies, which form a multistory channel stratigraphy. The channel [email protected] systems intersect local basins and indurated sedimentary mounds, which we interpret as paleolake deposits. Some inverted channels are located within erosional valley networks, which have regional and local Citation: catchments. Inverted channels are typically found in downslope sections of valley networks, sometimes at Davis, J. M., Gupta, S., Balme, M., Grindrod, P. M., Fawdon, P., Dickeson, the margins of basins, and numerous different transition morphologies are observed. These relationships Z. I., & Williams, R. M. E. (2019). A indicate a complex history of erosion and deposition, possibly controlled by changes in water or sediment diverse array of fluvial depositional flux, or base‐level variation. Other inverted channel systems have no clear preserved catchment, likely lost systems in Arabia Terra: Evidence for mid‐Noachian to early Hesperian rivers due to regional resurfacing of upland areas. Sediment may have been transported through Arabia Terra on Mars. Journal of Geophysical toward the dichotomy and stored in local and regional‐scale basins. Regional stratigraphic relations suggest Research: Planets, 124,1913–1934. these systems were active between the mid‐Noachian and early Hesperian. The morphology of these systems https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JE005976 is supportive of an early Mars climate, which was characterized by prolonged precipitation and runoff. Received 19 MAR 2019 Plain Language Summary Landscape features identified as former rivers and lakes are common Accepted 24 JUN 2019 Accepted article online 2 JUL 2019 across ancient Martian surfaces (>3.7 billion years ago), strong evidence for an ancient hydrologic cycle. Published online 22 JUL 2019 However, the nature of the ancient climate and environment remains unclear and detailed investigations of Mars's geology are necessary to help constrain this. Using high‐resolution satellite images, we investigate a series of sinuous ridges preserved at the Martian surface throughout the ancient Arabia Terra region. These sinuous ridges often occur downslope of river valleys, commonly as the valleys enter topographic basins. The ridges are usually found on the oldest exposed geological surfaces. The morphology of the ridges and their relationship to river valleys suggests that they are sedimentary rocks, which form in or next to rivers. We interpret the basins as ancient lakes and their associated deposits as lake sediments. These rivers were active ~3.7 billion years ago and transported and deposited sediment through the Arabia Terra region. On Earth, rivers typically take between 50,000 and 1,000,000 years to develop such thick deposits. These river deposits are now exposed as ridges due to erosion. The formation of these rivers and lakes in Arabia Terra was likely due to prolonged and episodic precipitation‐driven erosion. 1. Introduction Numerous erosional valley networks dissect the Martian surface and are interpreted to have formed due to fluvial erosion, mostly around the Noachian/Hesperian boundary (~3.7 Ga) under arid to semiarid condi- ©2019. The Authors. This is an open access article under the tions (e.g., Carr, 1995, Craddock & Howard, 2002; Fassett & Head, 2008a; Hoke et al., 2011; Howard et al., terms of the Creative Commons 2005; Hynek et al., 2010; Irwin & Howard, 2002; Irwin et al., 2005; Ramirez & Craddock, 2018). However, Attribution License, which permits use, models of the early Martian climate generally fail to predict an environment with temperatures above freez- distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is ing, limiting the availability of liquid water (e.g., Forget et al., 2013; Wordsworth et al., 2013, 2015). properly cited. Addressing this problem requires detailed studies of ancient Martian landscapes to place more robust DAVIS ET AL. 1913 Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 10.1029/2019JE005976 geologic constraints on the nature of the early Mars climate (Hynek, 2016; Kite, 2019). Depositional systems can record long‐term environmental conditions and climate change and are the primary source of deep time paleoenvironmental data on Earth. On Mars, depositional systems have been used to infer early Martian conditions (e.g., Barnhart et al., 2009; Burr et al., 2010; Cardenas et al., 2017; Davis et al., 2018; DiBiase et al., 2013; Edgar et al., 2017; Fawdon et al., 2018; Goudge et al., 2016; Grindrod et al., 2017; Grotzinger et al., 2015; Kite et al., 2019; Rice et al., 2013; Williams et al., 2013; Wilson et al., 2016). However, most of these depositional systems likely record Hesperian environments; there is an urgent need to understand what Mars was like during the Noachian. Davis et al. (2016) reported an extensive network of sinuous, branching ridges throughout Arabia Terra, an ancient region of Mars (middle to late Noachian ~3.9–3.7 Ga; Hynek & Di Achille, 2017; Tanaka et al., 2014), which borders the planetary dichotomy. Davis et al. (2016) interpreted the ridge systems as exhumed fluvial routing systems, remnants of fluvial channel deposits now inverted in the landscape. Such inverted deposits are sediment bodies formed by deposition in fluvial channel systems, which have been indurated and exhumed as ridges due to differential erosion (e.g., Burr et al., 2010; Maizels, 1987; Pain et al., 2007; Williams et al., 2009). The distribution of the Arabia Terra fluvial systems is consistent with formation by precipitation and runoff, and the deposits likely developed as part of a depositional fluvial system during the Noachian (Davis et al., 2016). Thus, extensive depositional systems in this region provide critical infor- mation on Martian paleoenvironments and by inference paleoclimate conditions during a time period for which little information is available. Here, we build on the study of Davis et al. (2016), using high‐resolution image and topographic data sets to investigate the detailed morphology of the inverted fluvial deposits and show key examples of their strati- graphic and transitional relationships to associated fluvial landforms. In other locations across Mars, inverted channel deposits are sometimes associated with depositional basins, such as Aeolis Dorsa (e.g., Burr et al., 2010) and in the Eberswalde delta (e.g., Rice et al., 2013). The presence of ancient erosional valley networks to the south and throughout parts of Arabia Terra (Hynek et al., 2010) presents an opportunity to investigate the relationship of erosional valley networks that form part of the catchment to possible down- stream fluvial depositional systems. We document how these relationships vary spatially throughout the region. Finally, we consider the formation environment for these fluvial systems and the implications for the regional Noachian climate that allowed such systems to develop. 2. Geology of Arabia Terra Our study area comprises Arabia Terra, the most northerly region of the martian cratered highlands. The oldest exposed Noachian terrains probably comprise a mixture of volcanic deposits, impact breccias, and flu- vial and aeolian sediments (e.g., Hynek & Di Achille, 2017). Much of Arabia Terra is covered by layered sedi- mentary rocks, the “etched units,” that are up to hundreds of meters thick, and which mantle, older Noachian terrain and have been extensively eroded (e.g., Edgett, 2005; Edgett & Malin, 2002; Fassett & Head, 2007; Hynek & Di Achille, 2017; Hynek & Phillips, 2001; Moore, 1990). The etched units may be reworked aeolian, dust, or pyroclastic deposits and are indicative of widespread regional resurfacing and denudation (e.g., Fassett & Head, 2007; Moore, 1990; Zabrusky et al., 2012). Limited fluvial dissection of the etched units suggests that the erosion was predominantly aeolian and mostly occurred at the Noachian/Hesperian boundary and early Hesperian (Fassett & Head, 2007; Zabrusky et al., 2012). South of Arabia Terra, the Noachian erosional valley networks, which likely flowed
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